The Hunger Games Alternate Beginning
by Nacho the Greato
Summary: This is just an alternate beginning of the Hunger Games. Oneshot. This is my first fanfiction ever, so please, no flames.  Rated T cuz im paranoid.


My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am 16,

and I live in District 12 of a country called Panem.

I'm almost dead because I am being

chased by a boy named Gale Hawthorne.

I repeat this to myself as I race through the woods, with Gale following, I can hear his footsteps trailing behind me, and I know he is gaining on me. I have my bow gripped tightly in my hand because I don't have enough time to stash it away. I see the big willow tree, flowing in the wind in front of us, which means I will come to the meadow soon. I gasp as I trip on a root. I fall face first, and my hands hit the soft, mossy underbrush. I turn over onto my back, where I see Gale standing right above me with a knife gripped in his hand. Suddenly my limbs won't move on command, and I panic.

I start to think of all of the people I haven't said goodbye to: My mother. She's a doctor, and I vaguely remember a time I actually trusted her before my father's death, after that she completely shut us (my sister and I) out. My sister, Primrose (or Prim for short), with her flowing blonde hair and her bright blue eyes, she doesn't even look like she's from District 12, where everyone has black hair and dark brown eyes. I have always been protective of her like she is my own daughter because sometimes my mother still shuts us out for a while. And last of all, Peeta, the boy with the bread. He's always been one of my closest friends, but I have always thought of him as more than that. He's perfect in every way imaginable, the way his silky, light brown hair undulates across his forehead, or the way his pale blue eyes sparkle in the sun, or his perfect medium height and stocky build, and even his smile is beautiful. When I walk through the hallways at school, and I hear the girls whispering his name, that's when I know there's no hope for us.

I feel a sharp pain in my leg, and I jump up. I fly through the woods with blood steadily flowing out of the laceration on the inside of my lower thigh. I get to the electric fence, and my leg is completely covered in blood. The fence is supposed to be electrified 24 hours a day, but it rarely is, yet I always listen for the slow and steady buzz. I slip under the fence, and see the lush, green meadow, scattered with miscellaneous flowers and plants, one of them being Katniss, the plant in which I was named after. I run through the meadow, as fast as I can to my house, which is right on the edge of the meadow. I burst into the door and I start to feel the effects of the blood loss, and the room starts to spin. I fall to the ground, and everything goes black.

When I wake up I wince from the pain emanating from my wound, and I see that a bandage is wrapped tightly around my lower thigh. I look out of the window, and I see the beautiful night sky, where each and every star shows its own beautiful, bright light. The nights aren't always like this, where there are thousands of visible stars, so tonight I marvel at the beauty of it. Then I look at the calendar, which says that it's September 20, so tomorrow is the first day of fall, which means that the reaping is tomorrow! The reaping is where the contestants for the Hunger Games are drawn. The Hunger Games are where two children, a boy and a girl, from each district are put in an arena designed by the Gamemakers, and forced to fight to the death, and we are forced to watch it on television and celebrate it. This year is the Quarter Quell, which is when the Gammakers put a terrible twist on the games. This time, two boys and one girl are entered. As that horrific thought passes my mind, a wave of drowsiness comes over me, and I instantly fall asleep.

I wake up early the next morning, and I put on my best reaping dress. The pain from my leg is great, but everyone is required to be there. I brush my hair, and try to look presentable with the little tools we have to do so. When my mother, my sister, and I were ready to go, we went to the town square, and found it teeming with people. Prim and I walked over to our appropriate sections. "Silence, please," said Effie Trinket. "The reaping for the 75th Hunger Games will begin now. This Quarter Quell, we will have 2 boys and 1 girl drawn, and for that reason, we will draw for the girls first." she reaches her hand, and draws out a name. She unfolds the piece of paper and reads, "Katniss Everdeen, do we have any volunteers?" No one volunteers. "Katniss Everdeen, please step up to the stage," Effie says. I walk up to the stage. "Now for the boys," she says as she pulls out 2 pieces of paper. She reads, "Gale Hawthorne, and Peeta Mellark. Are there any volunteers?" There were none. "Gale and Peeta, please come to the stage." While they were walking to the stage, I looked at Peeta, and he looked just about as shocked as I was, I could see the fear in his beautiful, blue eyes. Now there was _really_ no chance for our love.


End file.
